Kwon Hyeok-kyu joins St Mirren on loan from Celtic

Korean midfielder Kwon Hyeok-kyu has joined St Mirren on loan from Celtic for the remainder of the 2023-24 season

Kwon Hyeok-kyu poses with a St Mirren jersey in a photo shared on the club's Instagram on Friday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Kwon Hyeok-kyu has joined Scottish Premiership team St Mirren on loan, the club announced Friday.

Kwon will play for St Mirren for the remaining 2023-24 season. The 22-year-old midfielder joins St Mirren from fellow Scottish Premiership team Celtic, where he moved from K League 2 team Busan IPark July last year.

His move to St Mirren comes after he failed to make his debut for Celtic.

Unlike his two Korean teammates Oh Hyeon-gyu and Yang Hyun-jun who saw plenty of playing time after joining Celtic, Kwon only made it as far as the bench.

Kwon may make his Scottish Premiership debut with St Mirren, as manager Stephen Robinson is looking to reinforce the team’s midfield with him.

“He’s a player that comes highly recommended. Celtic were very keen for him to come to us which is a complement to the coaching staff here,” Robinson said in a statement released by the club’s official website Friday. "He’s played a lot of games in South Korea and was signed by Celtic for big money. It was an area we needed to strengthen in midfield and with Keanu away at the Asian Cup it was important that we strengthened there.

"We believe that he [Kwon] will come in and add that strength. He breaks up play really well and he can start play really well for us as well. I’ve had some good conversations with Brendan Rodgers about him and we’re delighted to have him in."

St Mirren sit in fifth-place on the 12-team table as of Saturday. They will face Queen of the South in a Scottish Cup match on Jan. 20.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]